Plait distributor



1. F. BAKER. PLAIT DISTRIBUTOR.

man 020.22.1921.

Feb. 20, 1923.

" 2 SHEETS-+SHEET l.

Zi/S w Feb. 20, 1923] 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FILED DEC. 22, 192l- Patented Feb. 20,1923.

- -nnirsn Mam e JAMES F. BAKER, OFITROY, NEW YORK,1ASSIGNOR 'ro cnun'rr. rnan'onya cosine OF TR OY, NEW YORK, A' COBPORATION OF NEW" 1 rnarrnrsrnrnuron,

3 Application filed December 22, 19 21. 'Seria1'No. 52-1',l35.l

. To all whom mag concern) 1 19 Be it known that 1, Jaime F Bnnn'm a :citizen ofrthe United States, and residentof Troy, in the county of Rensselaer andSta'te' .of New York, have invented-new and useful Improvements in Plait Distributors, which the following isa'specification i This invention has to do With thefolding of "collars, cuffs and otherv articles in the process of manufacture and more, particula'rly'to the folding of the margins of salient portions of articles such asthe rounded cor-p ners or ends of collars and cuffs Where the folded material tends to bunch and fold anevenly and therefore produce an irregular outline at the folded edge. For example, in. fold-ingthe marginsof certain collar blanks having ends sharply rounded theplaits necessarily formed inthe foldatthe ends tend to distribute themselves irregularly and therefore produce a fold having uneven thickness, making it difficult-to stitch, and alsohaving an uneven'e'dge, making it unsightly. I

Objects of the present invention are to fold salient margins uniformly and smoothly, to avoid uneven edges at such folds, to facilitate the stitching. of s'uchlfoldaand to accomplish these results'rapidly and'vvithout injury to the fabric or other material being folded.

The lIlVBIliJlOIill'lVOlVGS flexing the margin of the salient portion 1nto a series of WZWGS' extending along the edge thereof and then.

foldingthe margins'o' that the Waves produce plaits extending inwardly from the folded edge. The aves are preferably 7 formed with an irregular edge so as to have regular recurrence. I

The invention also comprises folding'ap paratus havlng a bed, whlch may be of any usual or suitable type applicable to folding machines, also.-having a reentrant folding plate movable along .the surface of the bed,

- and having a die arranged to press the article on the bed with the "margin of the article overlying the plate. thefolding plate being movable over the die to fold the over- 1 in a plait distributor which maybe in the form of a separate part adjustably'mounted on the foldedplate, and when soforined the teeth ofth'e distributor defined by theafore-" said notches preferably. extendonly substantially to the edge-of the folding platef By:

' forming the notches in a] distributor'overly ingthe folding plate the folding edge of the plate may have aregularf edge, in-eontra'disg -j ,tinction' to the irregular edge ofjthenotched or serrated distributor, thereby facilitating the sniooth foldingof theplaits Withoutany' tendency forftl'ie inQthe notches. H y

order to illustrate vention ,more clearly one concrete' embodiment is shown in in which material to edge or bunch the natureofthe in- 7 v the aceonipanyingdrawings Fig. l is atop planvie 'of a folding ma;

chine ivithqthe folding bars retracted; 1 1g. 2 1s a Slm1larVlQW Wliil1 tl16 folding bars advanced into foldingposition andwithf the die head omittedg.

. is an end View ofthe machine, I Fig. 4 isy an enlarged-top ;,plan1vievv ofa. part of one of the folding plates showing the plait' distributorfrnountedf thereon and j Fig. 5 isa section'on line 5+5of'FigQe. i

The machine'chosen forthe purpose 'of". i i

illustratingone application ofthe present invention in folding inachinesis similar to that disclosed in the prior pending applica tion Serial 'No; 509,383,1filedfOctober 21,"

1921, and comprises a frame 1, four fo1din'gr, if

bars 2, actuatingarmsd fastened to'the folding' bars,- shafts 4 *eccentrical'ly connected to V, c the arms for'actuatingithe folding bars folding strips 5 fast on the under side of the folding bars 2, and a die head 6'sWin-ging on" pivot 7 for pressing the article to be folded against t-he'bed plate 8; With themargin's o'fthe article overlying the folding strips5 -the folding strips sliding over tbe die9 to fold the margins thereo'ver. v v H K Inasmuch as the present inventionis part cularly appl cable to'th'efoldingof corners 10 0. or ends having salient membersithichflare I relatively acute, I. have shown thefolding.

strips 5 as being adapted [to the foldingof themargin's of acollar blankhaving the gen eral outhneof thefdle 9 as shown in Fig. 1.] thls particular blank having p'o nte'djends of relatively sharp curvature.

The particular application ofthe'present invention illustrated in the figures is in the form of a plait distributor 10 mounted on each of two of the folder strips 5 by means of a screw 11. The plait distributors have V-shaped portions 12 conforming to the contour of those portions of the folding strips 5 which fold the pointed ends of the blank. The inner edge of the portion 12 is notched or serrated to provide ii-shaped recesses into which the margin of the blank is pres ed when the die head is lowere of the serrations preferably extend approio imately to inner edge of the folding strip 5'.

In operation the blank is placed on the bed plate with its margins overlying the folding strips 5. The die head 6 is then lowered to press the central portion of the blank against the bed plate, the die 9 passing below the level of the folding strips 5, the folding bars are then advanced from the position shown in l ig. l to the position shown in Fig. 2 whereupon the folding strips 5 slide over the die 9 and fold the margins of the blank inwardly. Ordinarily the bed plat which is heated is then pressed u tiwardly and held for a brief interval to set the fold.

By virtue of the serrations or notches at the pointed ends of the blank the margins of the ends are flexed into a series of waves extending along the margin when the die head is lowered and as the folding strips slide inwardly, over the die 9 the ends of the blank are folded over with plaits corresponding to the waves formed by the aforesaid recesses or notches, these plaits extending inwardly from the margins of the blank being uniformly distributed in accordance with the distribution of the notches. In this way the ends are folded smoothly, the fullness being uniformly taken up, by-the plaits and the ends of the resulting folded blank being smooth and free from the irregularities resulting from folding machines heretofore employed.

I claim:

1. The method of folding, an article hav* ing a salient portion which comprises flexing the margin of the salient portion into series of waves extending along the meet ing edges respectively of said salient portion, and then-folding the margin so that the waves produce plaits extending at determinate points inwardly from the folded edge.

2. The method of folding an article having a salient portion which comprises flexing the margin of the salient portion to form a series of substantially like waves at determinate points spaced along said margin, and pressing the margin over to fold the margin with plaits corresponding to the several waves previously formed.

Apparatus for folding an article having a salient portion, comprising a bed, a

The poii .1

reentrant folding plate movable along the surface of said bed, a die arranged to press the article on said bed with the margin of the article overlying said plate, the folding plate being movable over the die to fold said margin, and means moving with the plate and providing a series ofnotches along the reentrant edge of the plate opersting simultaneously on the article to plait the fold at said salient portion. '75

iz. ripparatus for foldingan article having a salient portion, comprising; bed, a reentrant olding plate movable along the surface of the bed, a die arranged topress the article on the bed with the margin of the article overlying said plate, the folding plate being. movable over the die to foldsaid margin, and a plait distributor having a series of like features constructed and arranged to form the material at said salient portion into a series of waves-engageableby the folding plate toform uniform plaitsextending along each side of the article at the salient portion thereof.

5. Apparatus for folding an article having a salient portion comprising a. bed, areentrant folding platemovable along the surface of said bed, said plate having a smooth and regular edge, a die arranged to press the article on said bed with the margin of the article overlying said plate, the folding-plate beingmovable over the die to fold saidmarg'in, and a plait distributor overlying the folding edge of said plate to distribute the plaits in the fold of said salient portion.

6; Apparatus for foldingan article having a salient portion comprising a'bed, a; reentrant folding plate movable along the surface of said bed, adiearranged to press the article on said bed with the-margin of' the article overlying said plate, the folding plate being movable over the-die to fold said margin and a plait distributorhavin'g teeth extending substantially to the fold- 11'0 ing edge of said plate alongits; reentrant portion to distribute the'pla-its in'the fold of'said salient portion.

7. Apparatus for folding an article having a salient portion comprising-a bed, a-l15 reentrant folding plate movable alongv the surface of said bed, a die arranged to press the article on. said bed with the margin of the article overlying,saic plate, the-foldinn plate being movable over the dieto fold said margin, and a plait distributor fast to said plate, the distribtu'or having serrated edge extending alongthe reen trant edge of the folding; plate to distribute the plaits in the fold of said salient portion.

8. Apparatus for folding an article hav ins; a salient portion comprising a bed. a

foldine'plate movable along the surface of said bed, a die arranged to press the article on said bed with the marginofthe article overlying said plate, the folding plate being. movable over the die to fold said margin and having'a reentrant portion correspond mg to said sal1ent portlon, and a plait distrlbutor overlying sald reentrant POItlOIl,

trant portion and means providing series of recesses distributed along the respective margins of the meeting edges of said reentrant portion.

10. An infolder for folding machines comprising a folding plate having a reentrant portion and a plait distributor on said plate having a series of V-shaped re With notches along the edge thereof.

cesses distributed along the margin of. said reentrant portion.

11 An infolder for folding machines comprising a folding plate having a reentrant portion'and a plait distributor overlying the margin' of said reentrant portion 12'. An infolder for "folding machines 3 comprising a folding platehaving a reentrant portion and a plaitidistributor ,overlying said plate, the distributor having 1 Signed by. me at Troy, New York; this 16 day of December, 1921. v

teeth extending substantially to the, folding 3o edge of said platealong thereentrant pore. I 'tion of the plate.

JAMES EBAKER. Y 

